About Ryan Mello

About Ryan Mello

Ryan Mello represents District 4 and chairs the Council’s Community Development Committee, the Performance Audit Committee, and is Vice Chair of the Public Safety Committee.

Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Mello moved to Tacoma in 1997 to attend the University of Puget Sound where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics & Government. Fresh out of college he joined the AmeriCorps program (the domestic Peace Corps) where he coordinated the Youth United program at the United Way of Pierce County – engaging youth to a lifelong ethic of giving back.

As Executive Director of the Pierce Conservation District from 2012 to 2020 he led a team of conservation professionals committed to protecting our natural resources, Puget Sound recovery and improving our local food security.

Mello served on the Tacoma City Council from 2010 to 2019, led the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Growth Management Policy Board and the Pierce County Flood Control Zone District Advisory Committee and served on the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Board of Directors and Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners, among other assignments.

Read Councilmember Mello’s full bio.